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30310: Roebling (reply) (On Haitians living in the DR (fwd)
Elizabeth Roebling (lizieames@yahoo.com) to M. Pierre:
Many people in the US assume that all nations have - or should have-the same
policy as the US- that anyone born on the soil of a nation are entitled to
citizenship. This is not so, (See
http://canada.metropolis.net/events/metropolis_presents/EspeakersU_/weil2_e.htm
for some background on the laws of different nations.Sorry I have yet to master
the cutting and pasting of links that actually work .-
It is not, in fact, international "law" that a nation must guarantee
citizenship to every child born on its soil.Haiti does not grant citizenship to
any child born on its soil but rather to the children of any Haitian born to a
Haitian born parent anywhere in the
world.http://www.haiti.org/constitu/constabl.htm
The issue that we are facing here is that many of the children of Haitians
who were born here are not, in fact, eligible for Haitian citizenship as their
parents were also born here. They are,in fact, stateless persons. The Dominican
constitution provides that children of workers "in transit" are not eligible
for citizenship. http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/DomRep/domrep02.html
And the Haitians are considered "in transit". If their parents have gone
through the proper procedures to obtain Domincan citizenship, they are children
of Domincans. Imagine if the economy of Haiti were miraculously to boom, with
plenty of work and personal security. There would be a flood across the border
going in the other direction. Yet many Haitians who are here do have legal
residency, a process that may lead to citizenship in time. It is a matter of
filing the proper papers, following the proper steps, just as it is for
immigrants to the United States. This is, of course, an almost
impossible project for those who are illiterate.
The Dominican Republic is trying to maintain its national identity and its
borders. It is also trying to recover from the antiHaitian racist propoganda
that was spread durning the Trujillo-Balaguer era. Remember please that we have
had some great global shifts in overcoming racism in the last 50 years (the
death camps, apartheid, segregation along with Bosnia and Rwanda)
It is true that the availability of Haitian workers probably brings down the
wages of all Dominicans, who themselves are very poorly paid. So perhaps it
would be better for the Domincans if all the Haitians were to be deported.
Would that further the cause? Perhaps those millions of illegal immigrants are
holding down the wages of all the legal US citizens?
It is a measure of how successful Ms. Pierre has been that she is attracting
such a visceral response. Many people of good will are working to make life
here in the DR a bit better for the 600,000+ Haitians who are here. I am not
certain that you are helping the situation, well meaning though you may be.
Dialogue is not assisted by demonizing. The DR is perhaps reacting quite
understandably to the force of the international pressure which seems intent on
pressuring this nation without offering much in the way of assistance The
United States would not, for instance, open its doors to all the Haitians
living here.. Notice please, how quickly the Haitians who arrive in Florida are
sent to deportation proceedings.
Unlike the Haitians who are well educated and have sufficient means to obtain
visas to emigrate to the US, France, Canada, the Bahamas, etc., most of the
Haitians who are here are neither highly skilled or litterate. They are,
however, extremely willing to work for whatever small amounts they can make.
Most live here in peace,and prefer to stay rather than return to Haiti, It
would be useful if we could work together to come up with some positive steps
to help reconcile these two nations, obtain some rights for the education of
Haitian children who live here and a means for them to legally obtain
citizenship. We need the help of the Haitian and Dominican respective
disasporas living in the United States, I invite anyone who is working for
reconciliation to contact me.
For those of you who are on the picket lines, why not find a Domincan to hug?
Brotherhood is after all one of the great ideals of the revolution, n'est ce
pas?
Elizabeth
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